Meet Our Team

Castlehill Housing Association Ltd is led by Chief Executive David Lappin. There is a Senior Management team made up of two directors who oversee all aspects of the work of the Association. This includes the work of the Association’s subsidiaries, Castlehill Solutions and Castlehill Housing Trust.

If you would like to find out who your Property Service Officer or Housing Officer is, please check the information on your scheme page or contact the office on 01224 625822.

Senior Management

David Lappin

Chief Executive

David’s role is to lead the Association and take overall responsibility for management within strategic goals agreed with Castlehill’s Management Committee. David leads on strategic planning, future development of the organisation and promoting Castlehill’s role in the wider housing sector.

Joanne is responsible for overseeing the running of the Finance and Corporate Services department and ensuring that all departmental activities are carried out effectively. This includes maintaining relationships with key external stakeholders such as finance providers, insurance, internal and external auditors. She is also responsible for ensuring the Association and its subsidiaries comply with the requirements of external regulators e.g. Scottish Housing Regulator, OSCR and Companies House.

Housing Management

Mhorag Ewen

Housing Services Manager

Mhorag manages the housing management services for all general needs properties. Her role includes ensuring rent arrears are kept at a low level, anti-social behaviour is dealt with in accordance with Castlehill policy, oversees the day to day running of reception and the Homehunt office.

Claire is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in some of Castlehill’s Aberdeen city schemes and Aberdeenshire, including Inverurie, Port Elphinstone, Mintlaw, Ellon and Fetterangus. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Sharon is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in various Castlehill schemes throughout the North East. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Susan is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in various Castlehill schemes throughout the North East. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Mandy deals with pre-tenancy assessments, tenancy sign-ups and related support for various Castlehill schemes in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Sheila is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in Castlehill’s Aberdeen city centre schemes, plus Stonehaven and Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Suzanne is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in Castlehill’s Aberdeen city centre schemes, plus Kintore, Banchory and Blackburn in Aberdeenshire. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Leisha is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in Castlehill’s Aberdeen city centre schemes, plus Kintore, Banchory and Blackburn in Aberdeenshire. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Leisha works Monday to Friday (afternoons) and job shares with Suzanne.

Lynne is responsible for the allocations and housing management service in Castlehill’s Aberdeen city centre schemes, plus Kintore, Banchory and Blackburn in Aberdeenshire. This involves providing advice and information for tenants on payment of rent, tenancy issues, anti-social behaviour and housing options.

Michael is responsible for the collection of former tenant arrears for Castlehill Housing Association Ltd, Castlehill Solutions and Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust. He manages the raising and collection of current tenant rechargeable repair invoices.

He is also responsible for the collection of Affordable Warmth loan payments and handyman repair invoices for Aberdeen Care & Repair.

Jim manages Castlehill’s 21 sheltered and 4 very sheltered housing schemes in Aberdeen city, Aberdeenshire and Moray. He is line manager for staff in 20 of the sheltered schemes who provide Housing Support and other services for tenants. He is also responsible for dealing with a range of housing management/tenancy matters in sheltered and very sheltered schemes and in doing so works closely with other Castlehill staff and other agencies.

Maintenance

Craig Fleming

Senior Property Services Officer

Responsible for reactive or response maintenance which involves the day to day maintenance of all properties and includes getting void properties ready to re-let, running the gas service contract, garden maintenance, and the provision of an out of hours emergency repairs service.

Mike is responsible for the reactive or response repairs in his area which involves dealing with reports from tenants and arranging and overseeing repairs issued to contractors, plus inspecting and managing repairs to all void properties to make sure they meet our letting standard. Mike’s area covers some Aberdeen schemes plus Countesswells, and the Westhill area.

Norman is responsible for the reactive or response repairs in his area which involves dealing with reports from tenants and arranging and overseeing repairs issued to contractors, plus inspecting and managing repairs to all void properties to make sure they meet our letting standard. Norman’s area covers some Aberdeen schemes plus West Aberdeenshire including the Dyce, Ellon, Inverurie Ballater, Braemar and Rhynie areas.

Saunders is responsible for the reactive or response repairs in his area which involves dealing with reports from tenants and arranging and overseeing repairs issued to contractors, plus inspecting and managing repairs to all void properties to make sure they meet our letting standard. Saunders covers the Moray area and most of the properties he is responsible for are part of the Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust, which is a Castlehill Housing Association subsidiary company.

Allan is responsible for the reactive or response repairs in his area which involves dealing with reports from tenants and arranging and overseeing repairs issued to contractors, plus inspecting and managing repairs to all void properties to make sure they meet our letting standard. Allan’s area covers some Aberdeen schemes plus Aberdeenshire including the Kintore, Mintlaw, Fettercairn, Strichen and Fetterangus areas.

Alan is responsible for the reactive or response repairs in his area which involves dealing with reports from tenants and arranging and overseeing repairs issued to contractors, plus inspecting and managing repairs to all void properties to make sure they meet our letting standard. Allan’s area covers some Aberdeen schemes plus Aberdeenshire including the Kintore, Mintlaw, Fettercairn, Strichen and Fetterangus areas.

Lynn is our main point of contact for tenants reporting repairs or making maintenance queries. Her duties also include general administrative tasks including issuing works orders to contractors and recording tenant satisfaction returns.

Jackie is our main point of contact for tenants reporting repairs or making maintenance queries. Her duties also include general administrative tasks including issuing works orders to contractors and recording tenant satisfaction returns.

Development

Fraser Buchanan

Development Manager

Fraser is responsible for the Associations New Build programme, which includes identifying sites, dealing with Housing Developers and Design teams and overseeing the construction of quality new homes. He is also responsible for identifying and programming the Associations Stock Improvements programme, and for managing our Stock Condition information, allowing the Association to make informed investment decisions.

Davie is responsible for ensuring that Castlehill new development properties are built to the agreed specification, technical standards and are completed to a high standard. This involves carrying out regular inspections to ensure the contractors are complying with the approved drawings and specifications. Davie is also responsible to ensure that our Planned Maintenance kitchen and bathroom refurbishments are carried out and completed without much disruption to tenants and the completed installation meets our current quality standards.

Peter carries out EPC checks and asbestos checks for the Association, Solutions and the Trust. He is a qualified Energy Advisor, providing Castlehill’s free energy advice service which includes how to use your heating, energy saving tips, information on energy discounts, and also can help to compare and switch energy providers.

Jodie works in the Development department. Her main job is to liaise between tenants, occupational therapists and contractors to arrange medical adaptations within the home. She is also a qualified Energy Advisor, providing Castlehill’s free energy advice service which includes how to use your heating, energy saving tips, information on energy discounts, and also can help to compare and switch energy providers.

Jeannie provides administrative and clerical support to the Development and Planned Maintenance department. Jeannie’s main duties include supporting the planned and cyclical maintenance programmes, establishing and maintaining manual and computer-based document systems, communicating with tenants, contractors and consultants, and providing Health & Safety support to Castlehill and Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust properties.

Tenant Participation

Catherine Coutts

Tenant Participation Officer

Catherine encourages and supports our tenants to take part in all aspects of Castlehill’s decision-making process. She works very closely with Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO) as well as the Readers’ Group and the Scrutiny Panel. She works with tenants to produce The Chain newsletter. Catherine has been Secretary for NETRALT (North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together) for the last 3 years and was a finalist in the 2018 TPAS Scotland National Good Practice Awards.

Homehunt

Nicola Shand

Housing Allocations Support Officer

Nicola works as part of the Homehunt team, providing advice and assistance to applicants and outside organisations, processing and assessing applications and assisting housing officers with their allocations.

Finance and Corporate Services

Becky Ewen

Senior Finance Officer

Becky’s principle role is producing the quarterly and annual accounts for Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust and Castlehill Solutions which are the two subsidiary companies of Castlehill. She also supports the finance manager and the other members of the finance team in their work.

Kelly’s main duties are processing income and expenditure payments for Castlehill Housing Association, Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust and Castlehill Solutions. Kelly prepares monthly and quarterly sales invoices, as well as month end and quarterly procedures.

Lorraine is based in our Waverley Place office. She is responsible for monthly reconciliations for our Grampian Community Care Charitable Trust and Castlehill Solutions bank accounts and updating schedules required by the finance manager and other members of management.

Sarah is based in our Waverley Place office and her primary role within the association is to manage the payroll. She is also responsible for the Association’s own bank account reconciliation and assists with the preparation of the quarterly accounts.

Leo is responsible for registering and processing of invoices from contractors; these are sent out for authorisation and returned to Leo. Leo does a fortnightly pay run of these invoices, which are then filed . She deals with statements that come in from contractors and deals with any queries on these.

Alison provides corporate compliance services to the Association’s Management Committee and Senior Management Team. She is responsible for promoting a culture of compliance to ensure the Association complies with all its statutory and regulatory obligations.

Hannah provides a strategic and generalist Human Resource service to the Association. She offers advice and support in relation to all aspects of employment, ensuring that we have a motivated, happy, and high quality workforce equipped with the skills needed to deliver services effectively. Hannah is also responsible for developing and overseeing a performance management framework to monitor performance and drive improvement across all aspects of the Association’s work.

Amy provides a strategic and generalist Human Resource service to the Association. She offers advice and support in relation to all aspects of employment, ensuring that we have a motivated, happy, and high quality workforce equipped with the skills needed to deliver services effectively.

Linda provides Corporate Services and Human Resources administrative support, including supporting our Management Committee and subcommittees, and other aspects of governance such as arrangements for our Annual General Meeting. She also deals with the administration of staff recruitment, the appointment of new staff and any other staff changes. Linda provides PA support to the Chief Executive.

Customer Services

Karen Spears

Customer Services Assistant

Karen is one of our job share receptionists. Karen, along with Emma, is the first point of contact upon entering Castlehill’s office. She is responsible for first hand queries, answering calls, taking rents and payments, dealing with admin for our Housing Management department and generally providing good customer service.

Emma is one of our job share receptionists. Emma, along with Karen, is the first point of contact upon entering Castlehill’s office. She is responsible for first hand queries, answering calls, taking rents and payments, dealing with admin for our Housing Management department and generally providing good customer service.

Shona is one of our job share receptionists. Shona, along with Elaine, is the first point of contact upon entering Castlehill’s office. She is responsible for first hand queries, answering calls, taking rents and payments, dealing with admin for our Housing Management department and generally providing good customer service.

Elaine is one of our job share receptionists. She along with Shona is the first point of contact upon entering Castlehill Office. She is responsible for first hand queries, answering calls, taking rents & payments, dealing with admin for our Housing Management Dept. and generally providing good customer service.